Winter is a long and harsh season to endure for any creature in the wild, especially here in the mountains where the conditions can sometimes last from fall until the beginning of summer. Food sources become scarce as snows cover up the ground vegetation, and many smaller prey animals hunker down and even hibernate away the worst of it, leaving slim pickings for the predators. One of our wild neighbors tends to fare decently well, however, living well up to its name: the largest member of the deer family; the moose.

The etymology of the name moose originates from the Algonquin Indian Moos-Wa or Mos-Wa, which loosely translated means twig eater or bark scraper. If you’ve been up here for any length of time and appreciate our aspen trees, you already know full well how much the moose do as well, and fit this translation of name quite handily. Their summer diet consists largely of willows, aspen leaves and shoots, and all manner of water plants, but as winter sets in and the leaves fall off and blow away and the ponds and lakes freeze, they resort to what comes easy and is readily available, twigs and bark (with some pine needles thrown in for seasoning).

While they don’t seem to dig in hardily with pine bark, the scrapes of moose teeth on aspens are quite commonly seen throughout the forest. Not only do moose greatly enjoy the delicacy of this soft bark, they and all manner of other wildlife enjoy it for its medicinal purposes. Aspen bark contains the chemical salicin, which is a natural anti-inflammatory pain reliever, and is the original source of what we consume as aspirin. Interestingly, willows are also a great natural source of the chemical, which makes sense as to why they enjoy that plant so much as well.

For an animal that, as an adult, consumes 30-60 lbs. of food per day, it’s no wonder they have adapted their winter diets to partaking in what seems to us a not-so-palatable choice for breakfast, lunch and dinner just to make it through. As a young bull only 6-8 months old (seen here), it takes a lot of twigs to not only survive their first winter, but pack on enough daily pounds to continue growth. While they start out between 15-30 lbs. in total weight, they can be up to 150-200 lbs. by their first winter and need all they can get as they climb towards their peak average of 800-1200 lbs. as an adult. While moose elsewhere can grow larger, our species, the Shiras, is the smallest moose in the world.

This precocious youngster was found with his mother just on the outskirts of town one crisp winter morning enjoying a second breakfast (or likely even third) as I came upon the pair. I have known mama, Bubbles, for many years now (named due to my frequent early encounters with her, always at the same pond, head down and blowing bubbles to stir up mud for her mineral intake), so she was quite calm with my presence around the little one. I had the pleasure of making his acquaintance briefly as a baby at that very same pond where I met mama years before. I encountered them again in the fall when he was a little larger as they took their dinner of golden aspens and dried grasses. It was quite a treat to encounter them on this chilly morning walkabout, and spend a bit of meal time with them giving me a great opportunity to “check in” on the boy’s progress as he grew into his hooves.

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